Scouting: Illinois @ Missouri
When: 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis
TV: Fox Sports Net; Radio: WIND 560-AM.
Series: Missouri leads 16-7
Coaches: Ron Zook (21-39, sixth year at Illinois; 44-53 overall); Gary Pinkel (67-46, 10th year at Mizzou; 140-83-3 overall)
Illini players to watch: Redshirt freshman QB Nathan Scheelhaase begins what he hopes to be a four-year run as Illinois' leader. RB Mikel Leshoure hopes to pick up where he left off last season (184 yards, 2 TDs vs. Fresno State). WR A.J. Jenkins will be Scheelhaase's big-play target. Junior MLB Martez Wilson returns to the scene where he suffered a herniated disk in his neck combating a screen pass in the first quarter, yet played the rest of the game.
Missouri: QB Blaine Gabbert killed the Illini last year with 319 passing yards and a total of 4 TDs. Kendial Lawrence (219 yards in '09) and De'Vion Moore (256 yards in '09) take over the running game after Derrick Washington was dismissed from the team following sexual assault charges. Sophomore DE Aldon Smith piled up 11.5 sacks and 19 TFLs last year. CB Carl Gettis owns 37 career starts.
The skinny: It's Illinois' last chance to salvage something from this four-year series in St. Louis. The Illini are optimistic based on the improvements made by new offensive coordinator Paul Petrino and defensive coordinator Vic Koenning, but injuries and departures and dismissals have hurt the FB/TE positions and, more important, the secondary. Sophomore Justin Green, who was a running back 10 days ago, starts at cornerback as Koenning scrambled to fix three of the four DB spots last week. That's not a good situation when facing the strong-armed Gabbert. "He's done a great job," Zook said. "He could've won the Heisman if he'd played every game last year like he did against us." Illinois thought it was past the point where true freshmen had to contribute, but rookies Evan Wilson (TE) and Jay Prosch (FB) are No. 1 on the depth chart and four other newbies should play.